As Benito showed them to a guest room, Jaesung felt weighed down by his heavy stare. Despite looking tough, the thug’s gaze had a knowing quality that was hard to ignore. He was conscious of the fact that they were constantly being monitored. Luca had warned them with their lives and they weren’t ordinary guests.

He didn’t have time to think about that for too long, however, as something more important revealed itself.

“There’s only one bed.”

Benito laughed and slammed the door on his way out.

“I call dibs.” Before Giovanni could open his mouth to argue, he already jumped onto the bed, arms sprawled out and body sinking into the sheets. “This is heaven. Who knew such a dump would have a bed this comfy?”

Giovanni rolled his eyes. “Enough fooling around.”

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on or what?”

Jaesung peeked at Giovanni and was surprised to find the bodyguard hunched over with an aggravated expression. Huh, guess even Luca’s bodyguard had stressful days. It was easy to overlook the fact that there was a human beneath that tough exterior.

“There’s two reasons we’re here: a traitor, and the drug known as Veleno. Antonio Maniaco himself asked Luca to look into what was going on here.”

“Then why isn’t he the one doing it?” Ah, shit. He spoke too soon.

The thought of a traitor among their ranks wasn’t news, but this so-called drug called Veleno was.

“It must be nice to live in that bubble of yours.”

Jaesung shot up, more words tempted to fire from his lips, yet hesitated as he glanced at Giovanni. Maybe it was time he became serious, too. That nauseous feeling bubbled up from his stomach again, threatening to explode.

“Enlighten me, then. How am I supposed to help if you guys always keep me in the dark?” Jaesung swallowed before continuing. “I killed for Luca. Don’t I get an ounce of respect or trust for that?”

A deep sigh escaped the bodyguard’s lips, but no words of argument followed. Instead, he watched as Giovanni sat on the edge of the bed—feeling it dip in under his weight—and lit up a cigarette.

“Maybe Luca’s right about you after all.” He took another large puff. “A few months ago, our men were disappearing and dying at an alarming rate. Long story short, the big boss sent Luca and me to investigate it, only to find out that a drug named Veleno had somehow infiltrated our ranks. It caused those who took it to either go crazy or commit suicide, and those that survived those two side effects later ended up either comatose or dead.”

“And what does that have to do with Benito and his guys?”

“There’s a lot of money being shuffled around behind closed doors.”

“You think they have something to do with drug?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them.” The last bit of smoke swirled up into the air. “But that’s not why we brought you along.”

Jaesung had a hunch that this would not end well. It almost scared him to ask. “And why did you bring me along?”

“A key member of Benito’s gang, Luis, is the one who monitors the funds coming in and out. He also has what you would call unique preferences in romantic partners, not to mention is very loose with his tongue after a bit of alcohol.”

The weight of disappointment settled in his chest. “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

“Luca was the one who vouched for you, ya’ know.”

That motherfucker Luca knew about him all along, and now he was going to be used as their plaything to get what they wanted. Jaesung wanted to hate him for it, but despite his efforts, he couldn’t fully commit to that feeling.

How did he find out? Unless he was just like him. The notion that Luca was like him was almost comical. What the hell was he thinking?

No one chose this path because they wanted to.